Introduction

The Video particle enable you quickly and easily add video content to your page. This particle has support for Vimeo, YouTube, and local video sources. The main difference between them is how they display this content.

Configuration

Main Options

These options affect the main area of the particle, and not the individual items within.

Option

Description

Particle Name

Enter the name you would like to assign to the particle. This only appears in the back end.

CSS Classes

Sets any CSS class(es) you want to have apply to the particle's content.

Title

Enter a title for the particle.

Item Options

These items make up the individual featured items in the particle.

Option

Description

Item Name

Designates a name for the item that appears in the back end only.

Caption

Sets up a caption for the video.

Url

Enter the URL for the video (if using either Vimeo or YouTube as a source).

Source

Select the source you would like to use. Options are: Slideshow Preset, Vimeo, YouTube, and Local.

Local Video Sources

Add file(s) that will act as the video source(s).

Loop

Enable or disable video looping.

Autoplay

Enable or disable autoplay.

Show Controls

Show video controls (YouTube).

File Support

The particle has local support for any video format that can be natively embedded using HTML5. This includes: MP4, WebM, Mov, and Ogg videos. If you would like a point of reference, we used a 1280x720 video in the RocketLauncher. This is a standard video format that is commonly available as a preset in most video encoding programs.

Variables such as your bit rate will vary depending on the type of content in the video, as well as the frame rate of the video being presented. High action and/or high framerate video will need higher bit rates while low-action video such as screencasts and shots of a plain background with little overall movement can get by with lower bit rates.

To break this down, here are some examples. You do NOT have to abide by these resolutions or video settings. We recommend strongly checking out the HTML5 video support documentation available at W3 for additional perspective.

Resolution

Video Codec

Audio Codec

Container

Bitrate

320x240

h.264

AAC

MP4

400 kbps

480x270

h.264

AAC

MP4

700 kbps

640x360

h.264

AAC

MP4

1400 kbps

1280x720

h.264

AAC

MP4

2500 kbps

1920x1080

h.264

AAC

MP4

4000 kbps

To save time and resources on page loads, you will want to encode your video at a relatively low bit rate. Keep in mind that as a general rule: the lower your bit rate, the lower the quality of the video. It's almost impossible to state a one-size-fits-all bit rate that lets all videos look great while being as small in file size as possible. The best practice is to do some trial and error.

Alternatively, YouTube compresses videos for you, and it is supported by this particle. This would be the easiest method available to you, and you save on bandwidth as you won't be serving the actual video file yourself.